Back but Not the Same
by Arristo
Summary: Part 3 of The Mending Heart Trilogy! This is the finale guys! Winter arrives and things are finally turning for the better for not only Mordecai but for others as well. However, Fate has other plans, and the old returns, the new introduces itself, and our bluejay takes his stand once and for all... Mordegaret, Rigleen and a little bit of other pairings in here! Rated T for stuff.
1. Season's Edge

Hallelujah, I LIVE! I AM ALIVE! Do I still have _any _followers?

(Plus ignore the summary since it's cheesy...)

I'll make this short and sweet.

No, I have not given up on this trilogy. You have NO clue what has happened so far. Finals are coming, I got a new lil sis :D , a lotof ups and downs and now SUMMER is just a week and a half away for me! YEAH! *quickly shuts mouth and looks around* Okay, that SummerTimeLovin' song hasn't shown up so far... Phew! And be prepared people! You're really in for a RIDE, I'll tell you that! I don't even know how long this story will be, but I have plans...

Anywho I'll shut up now!

* * *

For the nearing end of November, it was cold and crisp outside. The leaves on the trees have long since disappeared and became empty. The sky was pretty cloudy and people in the city were walking through the streets, wrapped in warm clothing.

At the Park it was not much different. The house had some patches of snow and only a few people were walking through. Inside the house it was warm.

"Today's forecast calls for a high of 65 degrees and a low of 10, so a pretty good chance for snow. Skies are cloudy and winds at around five miles per hour, so dress warmly..."

The tv blared the news in the living room, but no one was watching.

Mordecai and Rigby were at the kitchen table. The blue jay was waiting for Rigby to finish his bowl of cereal, while staring at his long since finished bowl. The raccoon had whined a GREAT deal to have Mordecai wait for him. Fortunately said raccoon was almost done with his cereal, staring at the back of the cereal box and chewing. THe two were silent.

"So... Sleep well last night?" asked Mordecai, trying to break the silence.

"Am nam nam nam nam nam nam..." was Rigby's response.

"...Uh, is that a yes?" said Mordecai, getting up and placing his bowl in the sink. Rigby swallowed and said, "Yep. But it was freaking freezing man!"

"Yeah it was," said Mordecai, rubbing his wings. "It's probably gonna snow today..." Rigby huffed a little and threw his bowl in the sink. "Alright, let's go." he said and grabbed his hoodie and scarf, Mordecai copying but with his own clothing. They stepped outside and immediately shivered. "Brr... Jeez it's freezing!" Rigby wrapped his scarf tighter around himself. "I know!" Mordecai zipped up his hoodie, placed on his hood and wrapped his scarf around his neck. "You're telling me." said Thomas, wrapped in warm clothing and sitting on the steps. The duo sat down on the steps and not long afterwards, the rest of the crew came.

"Alright everyone, not too much today," said Benson, holding his clipboard and adjusting his scarf. "Skips, Muscleman and High-Five Ghost, you guys shovel some of the snow we got last night. Thomas and Pops, I need you two to run to the store and buy some groceries for the potluck tonight. Here's the money." Benson handed a small stack of bills to Thomas. "Mordecai and Rigby, there's a small gathering for a school community service club and they need help serving refreshments, and then afterwards you gotta pick some stuff up too. I brought Joey here to he'll help you out." A teen with brown hair came up and waved. He wore a yellow shirt that read 'Green Thumbs 4 Life' "Hey Joey/'Sup man." Mordecai and Rigby greeted. "Sup guys." he replied.

"Alright now everyone remember to bring your guys' dishes to the potluck tonight. Now get to work!" said Benson. Everyone split up and Mordecai and Rigby came to Joey.

"Follow me to the truck." said Joey jogged ahead and the duo followed.

They reached a white pickup and Joey opened the door, revealing two trays of piping hot cocoa from Starbucks and a huge box of donuts. "Donuts!" Rigby reached for the box but Mordecai slapped his paw away. "Dude! Not for you!" he said. Rigby mumbled, rubbing his paw. "Yeah, there's a lot of us. Good luck with getting any." Joey grabbed the box and Mordecai and Rigby held the hot cocoa. The teen shut the door and led them to his group standing near a long rectangular fold-in table. It had around twenty kids and two teachers, plus Joey. "Hey guys!" said Joey.

"Oh hey! Donuts!"

"Ooh! Hot cocoa!"

"Whoa whoa! One at a time man!" Joey shouted and set the box on the table and opened the box. Everyone started grabbing donuts while Mordecai and Rigby set down the cups and handed out to each person, earning many thanks. Soon everyone got their share, which miraculously left only one donut and two cups of cocoa. "Mine!" Rigby shouted and grabbed the last donut and a cup. Mordecai frowned and got the last cup.

* * *

Sometime later, they returned to the house and Benson handed them a list, right before he yelled at them not to mess it up. The duo went in the cart and drove off.

"Dude, read me the address again."

"Um, 3421 South Bell drive." Rigby read the paper in front of him

"'Kay. Also, what were we bringing again?"

"Uh, I think it was pigs in a blanket? Or did Muscleman take those?"

"No you're right. We're bringing the pigs in a blanket and also my Mordeshakes! And Muscleman... he said he was making his 'special'," Mordecai used one hand to do quotation marks. "Salsa dip or something like that."

"Isn't that the one where we all got sick last time?"

"He says this new one was improved, but I ain't taking any chances."

"Amen to that dude." Rigby agreed, and caught a glance at the Coffee shop as they passed by. Luckily for him the cart slowed due to traffic and Rigby managed a glance at Eileen working inside. He smiled unconsciously. He hadn't been inside there for a while. "You think we can go to the Coffee shop afterwards?" he said. However he wasn't expecting Mordecai's answer to be...

"Yeah, sure we can go. I can use another cup of cocoa."

Rigby smiled.

"Sweet!"

"Yeah-"

"WAIT HOLD UP!"

"AAH!" Mordecai yelled and nearly lost control, earning some honks from cars, and slammed the brakes as a red light appeared. They lurched forwards and fell back. "Holy crap man! You would've killed us if I hadn't died of a heart attack first!" yelled Rigby, clutching his chest. "Well if you hadn't yelled, I wouldn't have done that!" argued Mordecai, slowly relaxing his grip on the wheel and slowing his breathing. "What the heck was that for anyway?"

"Well you haven't gone back there since, you know..." Rigby said sheepishly. "So I didn't think you'd say yes... Sorry."

Mordecai sighed. "Nah, it's fine dude, I'm over it," He rubbed his head and the light turned green and the cart drove forward. "We can go after we pick up the stuff or Benson will blow a fuse, _again_."

"Cool!"

There was a bit of silence, before Mordecai spoke...

"...Wait, is it because of Eileen?"

"STOP TALKING!"

* * *

Yeah short, I know. Is that good enough for ya though? *head falls onto desk* I'm tired. B( Any errors... I don't care :/

Anyway, ya know what to do now! Bye!

~Arristo~


	2. Party Tonight

So the duo got the supplies they needed, went to the coffee shop and returned to the house. Then later that day, the potluck was only a few minutes away until it would begin. Mordecai and Rigby walked around, looking at what everyone brought.

Pops made three of his cherry tart pies, Skips brought a very long sub sandwich from the store and a few bags of different bags of chips, Benson brought wings, bottled waters and some catered food from Good Luck Chinese Restaurant, Thomas brought guacamole, tortilla chips and soda, High-Five Ghost didn't bring food but plates, plastic forks, knives and spoons, and of course Muscleman brought his 'special' dip. The employees made their distance between the bowl and themselves. Mordecai set down the plate of pigs in a blanket and Rigby grabbed the blender filled with the 'Mordeshakes' and was careful enough to se it down by the drinks. "Hmph hmph." The duo smiled and left.

A short time later, the whole park crew, along with Mr. Maellard, and a handful close friends and guests were inside.

Mordecai chugged some water before hearing knocking on the door. "I got it!" he yelled and he opened the door. There stood CJ, holding two pizza boxes and a crock-pot on top. "What up Mordecool?"

"Hey CJ! Come on in!" Mordecai let her step in. CJ walked in with the crock pot and staggered a little to keep it balanced. "Oh! Uh here let me get that for you." Mordecai grabbed the crock pot and picked it up. "Thanks." CJ walked towards the living room and set her pizzas down. "Hey, set it down by that outlet will ya?" asked CJ. "I gotta warm it up."

The blue jay obliged. He then asked "So what's in here? Some dip-"

"Attention everyone! Please, may I have your attention?" Benson called out and clapped his hands. The talking died down as everyone focused on the gumball machine. "Okay, now first off I would like to thank you for coming to Mr. Maellard's 155th birthday potluck." He closed his mouth and clapped along with everyone else in respect/ Rigby sarcastically rolled around an imaginary noise maker with his finger and whispered to Mordecai, "You think his last birthday would've been like fifty-five years ago-OW!" Mordecai slugged him in the arm, not wanting Benson nor Maellard to hear.

Luckily they didn't, leaving Rigby to grumbled and rub his arm.

"Secondly, I believe all of the guests have arrived, so we can begin eating and soon serve the birthday cake. Of course, Mr. Maellard, you may go first."

"Thank you Beancan." he replied, and happily began serving himself. A few seconds later... "Now everyone else can go." said Benson, turning slightly red because of Maellard's billionth time of mispronouncing his name.

"Aw yeah!" Rigby immediately grabbed a plate and piled as much food as he could onto it. Mordecai did the same but was less crazy than Rigby, along with everyone else. Just as Mordecai was going to munch on his pieces of sub, there was a few knocks on the door. "Hm, wonder who it is?" he walked to the door and opened it, revealing Eileen holding a tray covered in foil. "Hi Mordecai." she greeted.

"Oh hey Eileen! Come on in." Mordecai stepped aside "Hey, who is it?" said Benson, a cola in his hand. "Oh Eileen! I didn't know you were coming! And you brought something?"

"Hi Benson, and yeah, Rigby and Mordecai told me about the potluck today, so I decided to make brownies!" Eileen walked over to the table and set down the pan, taking off the foil and revealing them. "Ooh..." Mordecai and Rigby stared at the chocolate brownies with awe.

The raccoon saw CJ stirring with a large black spoon inside the crock pot. He went over to her, Mordecai following. "What's that CJ?" asked Rigby. "It's Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Chicken dip." she replied, stirring the orange, lumpy mixture. "I think it's ready." "Whoa really? I want some!" Mordecai grabbed a tortilla chip and took a little but Benson called him over before he placed it in his beak. "What Benson? I'm coming." He stuffed the chip in his mouth before walking over there.

"Ditto! Let me have some!" grabbed a chip and proceeded to dip it in.

"Whoa, hold up." CJ held Rigby back. "I'd be careful. I got this off the internet and it said it was supposed to be pretty hot."

"Trust me Rigby, it is," said Eileen. "By the way, where's your bathroom again?"

"Upstairs, first door on your left." said Rigby. The mole ran upstairs.

"Yeah, I tasted it and my eyes watered a bit." said Mordecai, coming back over. He gulped down his water bottle. "Whew!"

"What? Come on, it can't be that bad!"

"Rigby I had like a half bottle of hot sauce in there." said CJ.

"Oh... Nah, I got it."

"Pfft, no you don't! Both of us know about how you handle spicy foods," said Mordecai. "Last time you ate some spicy fajitas and after that you wouldn't even dare touching a chili pepper since!"

"But that's a chili pepper, not a spicy buffalo dip." said Rigby, pointing at him.

"That doesn't even make any sense! I give up." Mordecai threw his wings in the air and walked away. "You want a soda CJ?"

The cloud girl shrugged. "Sure alright." she followed the blue jay.

So some time went by and around an hour and a half later the guests left, sans Eileen, CJ and two of Maellard's friends, _younger_ ones, about in their mid-forties, at least. Rigby and Mordecai joked about how the guy could even have any.

Then the cake was served, vanilla flavored much to our known duo's disappointment. And as they were eating it, Benson remembered something and gently tapped Maellard on the shoulder, saying, "Mr. Maellard, you said you would make an announcement?"

"What? Oh, yes. Thank you Beanton," the elder stood up, using his cane for support. Benson sighed and pinched the bridge between his forehead and nose. "Now, as you all know, well except for those who DON'T work here, Thanksgiving is not far away, and-"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone jumped and saw Rigby, his mouth covered with CJ's dip, screaming his head off. "HOLY CRAP IT BURNS! IT BURRRRRNNNSS!" He screamed. And kept doing so as he ran to the kitchen, flung open the cooler that was filled with ice water and sodas, and practically threw his head in. There was a small hiss and Rigby came up with a loud "AHHHHH..."

Everyone just stared. Eileen giggled a little bit. Benson gritted his teeth, turning a light shade of red and facepalming. "I got this." said Mordecai and punched Rigby in the arm. "OW!" Rigby yelled, rubbing his arm. To this Benson's shade of red faded away. Mordecai glared at Rigby before turning to Mr. Maellard, "Sorry Mr. Maellard, please continue."

"...Anyway, as I was saying, Thanksgiving is coming up, and just like last year, we are having a Thanksgiving dinner. I myself will also be attending, and I have decided to provide with the turkey this year.

"Furthermore, after paying park taxes, my son Pops has discovered that we have approximately four-hundred and ninety dollars leftover. So every employee will receive an extra seventy dollars in their paycheck."

"WHOAAAAAA!" Mordecai and Rigby waved their hands. "WHOOOOOOO!" Muscleman waved his shirt around in the air. And for the sakes of Benson, Benson's job and his own, he had a white t-shirt underneath. Benson's face lightened up and he gave a good smile.

A few hours later...

"Ugh..." Mordecai and Rigby both flopped on their beds. Their stomachs were slightly distended. "Dude, I think I'm gonna skip breakfast tomorrow." "Air five to that..." Mordecai held up his wing and Rigby air-fived it, both of them saying, "OHHHHH!". "Seriously though, Eileen made pretty good brownies!" said Rigby. "I know right? Man I must've ate like five of those. But I ate WAY more of CJ's and buffalo dip." said Mordecai, getting comfortable in his bed. "You liked that? Dude my mouth was on fire after eating some!" said Rigby. "Well maybe next time you should listen to her before stuffing your face with it! She told you that it had hot sauce in that!" Mordecai rolled his eyes, but laughed. "Shut up." Rigby said, getting comfortable on his trampoline. "Oh hey, shut the window too will ya?"

"Fine." Mordecai got up and shut the window, but as he was gonna walk away, he did a double take and saw a figure leaning against a tree just in front of the house. Mordecai squinted and the figure turned its head towards him and Mordecai felt chills down his spine as its eyes burned through the avian. _Who's that..? _Mordecai's eyes widened and he took a step back. He turned away from the window for a moment. "Dude?" Rigby stared at his best friends oddly. The blue jay ignored him and came back to the window, and gasped when he saw that the figure was gone.

_What the..._

"Yo, earth to Mordecai!"

"Huh?" Mordecai blinked and looked at Rigby.

"You alright? You were standing there all spaced out and stuff."

"Oh! Uh there was someone outside, well, I think there was... Anyway it looked at me and now it's gone!"

"What?" Rigby got up and looked out the window. Sure enough there was no one but something caught the raccoon's eye. "I think it dropped something too."

"It did?" Mordecai looked and blinked as his eyes caught a small shiny object flickering on the ground, the same spot where the figure was.

"I'll get it." said Rigby. Mordecai made no argument and watched the raccoon race outside, grab the shiny thing and come back.

Rigby came into the room, eyes wide. "Well? What is it- Oh my god." Mordecai began but stopped and his eyes widened.

It was a knife.

_That_ knife.

Mordecai's head began to throb, and he winced, noticing Rigby was reacting the same, but with wide eyes and a pale face. His tail drooped and his ears too. "Throw it." Mordecai nearly screamed and grabbed the knife. "Oh! Here!" Rigby was somehow snapped from his trance and brought out a small suitcase. Mordecai made no hesitation to throw the knife in the box and Rigby snapped it shut. "Here! I got this!" Rigby reached underneath his trampoline and pulled out a tiny gun. "Stand back!" he said and fired at the suitcase, sending a tiny red beam and the suitcase turned black, then a pile of ash.

"...What?" Mordecai gaped.

"What? It's a disintegrator." said Rigby. He grabbed a little handheld vacuum that they had borrowed and sucked up the pile.

"Alright, but let's just do us both a solid and forget all about this alright?"

"Deal."

"Good. By the way... Where'd you get that suitcase and gun anyway?"

"... Well goodnight!" Rigby leaped to bed.

"...Alright, g'night dude." Mordecai shrugged and laid down in his own bed.

"Meh..." Rigby mumbled before the sounds that came from him were snores.

Mordecai rolled his eyes before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

I'm on summer break! WHOAAAA!

Yeah I know this is kinda moving slow and boring but by the next chapter things should start picking up more!

You know the drill.

~Arristo~


	3. Re-Encounter

That morning, the duo woke up a little late, so they simply got ready and said nothing, especially about last night. Since of course, they had to forget about it. They were a little late for work.

And by late, in this case, twenty-minutes late.

"Now that we have _everyone_ here," said Benson, giving a good look at Mordecai and Rigby as they sat on the. "Not much that we can actually do because of the weather, but Skips, I need you to fix and cover up the gardens with the tarp again. Muscleman and Fives you two need to help Pops with his chores today. And Thomas is at college so Mordecai and Rigby you two need to shovel snow."

The duo groaned. Then everyone went to work.

The duo dragged their snow shovels from the shed and began to heave the snow away from the paths. "Watch out!" Mordecai called and shoveled some snow and threw it over his shoulder. "Whoa!" Rigby ducked and the snow fell just behind him. He began smacking the small bit of ice on the ground when the wind blew.

"Brr..." Rigby rubbed his arms. He turned to Mordecai.

"Coffee break?"

"...Yeah alright." They dropped their shovels and got in the cart, driving to the coffee shop. The cart swerved a little due to the ice on the roads, but they managed.

The bell on top of the door tinkled as they entered the warm building from the raging winds outside. The place was kind of busy due to the weather, and the smell of brewing coffee and baked goods filled the air. "Man, it feels so good in here!" said Rigby. "Heck yeah it does!" Mordecai loosened his scarf.

"Remember, we gotta get back by ten." said Mordecai as he glanced at the clock. "Gotcha." said Rigby.

"Hey guys!" The two heard Eileen call to them and waved from the counter. "Hey Eileen!/Hey what's up?" Mordecai and Rigby greeted and sat at their usual spots. "Usual please." said Mordecai. "Already on it." Eileen smiled and raced away. Mordecai caught a small glance at Rigby and saw him staring a bit dreamily at her, cheeks flushed. He would've said something but knowing the consequences the avian kept his mouth shut. Soon Eileen returned with two cups. "Here ya go you two." said Eileen. "Thanks." they both said and sipped their drinks.

"Oh guys, you wanna hear a funny story?" said Eileen.

"Yeah sure!" Rigby said, and Mordecai agreed.

Mordecai saw from the corner of his eye a figure looking into the window of the coffee shop. It seemed to be looking at him. When he looked at it, the figure jumped back, stared and then ran off. The avian stared weirdly before shaking his head and turning back to Eileen, listening to the rest of her story.

"Hey dude, isn't it almost ten?" said Rigby, looking at the clock.

"Oh yeah! Let's go!" said Mordecai. The duo quickly said their goodbyes to Eileen, chugged their drinks and raced back to the cart, but Mordecai got held up as he accidentally stepped on a small thumbtack that seemed to have fallen off one of the nearby billboards.

"Ouch! Stupid-" he was cut as something hit him lightly in the back of the head.

"Hey! What the?" Mordecai turned around and saw no one nearby, but when he looked down there was a crumpled up wad of paper. Confused he picked it up and opened it.

It had a bit scrawny handwriting on it but it read:

_You should've stayed where you belonged_

Mordecai's eyebrow raised in confusion. He shook his head and crumpled it up again, tossing it in the recycling bin, as well as tossing away the thumbtack. "Stupid idiots. Probably some dumb prank." he muttered as he ran to the cart and drove back to the park.

As he left, a figure stood by the building and watched the cart, before disappearing around the corner.

* * *

"Man that story she was saying was hilarious!" said Rigby as they headed back to the Park. "Oh yeah, especially the part where her cousin fell face-first into that kiddie pool." laughed Mordecai.

"We should go back later. I want to hear it again!"

"Yeah we should- Wait, just because of that?"

"Well yeah-" Rigby stopped and realized what he said just started something he did not want to say.

"Dude, you okay? First you were blushing when Eileen and now you-" He stopped and realized it. (Insert Mordecai making a SpongeBob Rape Face.)

"Come on dude, just admit it..." They got out of the cart.

"Admit what?" Rigby tried to play coy.

"Just admit it! Come on..." Mordecai poked Rigby, making the raccoon slap his hand away.

"I... mmmerm..."

"Huh? What was that?"

"I... limmmer."

"Come on dude! Spit it out!"

"I LIKE HER OKAY! OKAY?!"

"You LIKE her! I KNEW IT!" Mordecai laughed.

"Why you-!" Rigby fished for the first thing in his pocket and chucked it at Mordecai, and it was his cellphone. "Whoa!" Mordecai ducked. "What the heck man?!"

Before Rigby can retort, the door opened. "Rigby! You got a sec?" Thomas shouted. "Yeah sure hang on!" Rigby shouted back. "Hurry!" Thomas shut the door. "Alright I'm coming!" Rigby quickly raced "Oh crap, my phone!" he said and faced Mordecai. "...What?" asked Mordecai.

"...Get it for me?" said the raccoon.

"Ugh! Fine." Mordecai shook his head and walked away.

Rigby raced inside

"I got a question. Who's bike is it lying down at the back of the house?"

"Is it red and has the little flame flag?"

"Yeah."

"That's mine. What about it?"

"Well... It's on fire."

"WHAT?!"

Meanwhile, Mordecai searched the snow and found it in a small pile. He stooped down and wiped off the wet snow with his sleeve.

"Got it- Oof!" Mordecai bumped into something as he stood up. "Hey!" a voice cried. It sounded like a woman, and her voice was fairly familiar. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" said Mordecai, standing up as he rubbed his head. He saw that she had been knocked to the ground.

"N-no, it's fine. Totally my fault." she said nervously.

"Oh no! It's mine. I should've seen you coming! Are you okay?" said Mordecai, helping her up. "Well yes... No? Augh! I'm sorry. It's just been a crazy day," she explained as she dusted off her hoodie. "Earlier I thought I just saw my dead, erm, friend, and I was being chased and-" She stopped as she looked up at him. Her eyes widened

"Oh my god..." A gust of wind blew and knocked off her hood, causing it to fall off her head. She blinked and gaped at Mordecai.

Mordecai dropped the phone in shock.

"Mordecai?!"

"Margaret?!"

* * *

Hmm, sounds like someone wants Mordecai gone...

Cliffie! Muahaha! Sorry! Gotta go now!

R&R, bye!

~Arristo~


End file.
